(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filing system for disc-type recording media and particularly to such systems wherein the record discs, when moved from a storage position to an ejected position for user selection, are presented in a staggered relationship. More specifically, this invention is directed to the storage of gramophone and/or video discs and especially to a storage and retrieval technique wherein all of a plurality of stored discs are simultaneously presented for user selection and the discs may be returned to safe storage with minimal user attention. Accordingly, the general objects of the present invention are to provide novel and improved apparatus and methods of such character.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Methods and apparatus for the storage of a "stack" of flat recording media, standard records for example, are well known in the art. Examples of such prior art apparatus and methods may be seen from British Pat. No. 794,216 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,760,839 and 2,720,438.
In the case of storage devices of the type shown in British Pat. No. 794,216, individual record holders are supported in a vertical stack in a box-like housing. A manually operable tension plate is provided beneath the lowest of the holders and this tension plate is connected to the adjacent holder by means of an arrangement of control cables. Each individual holder is coupled to the holder next above it in the vertical arrangement by a similar cable control. Movement of the tension plate will thus be coupled from holder to holder and when the tension plate is withdrawn from the housing the holders will all follow.
The apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,839 operates on a principal similar to that of the above-discussed British patent. Thus, in the device of this U.S. patent all of the record holders are coupled by means of a common rod which serves as an ejection control. Manual withdrawal of the rod from a housing will thus result in the ejection of all of the holders with the amount of travel of the individual holders being varied so that a staggered arrangement is provided when the holders are in the ejected position.
In the apparatus of U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,438 the ejection movement is transferred, by means of a lever rod system, to the paper envelopes in which the record discs are kept when in storage.
Playback systems which are suitable for installation in motor vehicles and which accept so-called "compact discs", i.e., record discs which are read optically, have recently become available. There is, accordingly, a concommittant need for a disc-filing or storage system and technique that satisfys the comparatively harsh use conditions presented by the motor vehicle environment. In order to satisfy the usage requirements, a filing or storage system for a motor vehicle must, in addition to providing the requisite protection against damage resulting from mechanical vibration, be capable of operation with minimal attention. That is, the storage system must be characterized by ease of use and particularly by the ability to return a disc to storage without diverting attention from the task of vehicle control. A storage system for use in a motor vehicle should also, since space requirements dictate the manner of installation, be capable of operation in various angular orientations.
Prior art storage systems of the type shown in the three above-discussed publications do not meet present requirements. For example, the apparatus of British Pat. No. 794,216 does not have the ability, in the motor vehicle environment, of conveying the stored discs in a vertically upward direction since motion in the vertical direction would require the user the hold the tension plate with one hand while exchanging a disc with the other hand. This deficiency is also shared by the device of U.S. Pat. No. 2,760,839. While this problem is somewhat alleviated by the articulated lever-type rod system of U.S. Pat. No. 2,720,438, use of this patented system would nevertheless require the user to perform relatively complicated movements, which would require visual observation, and in some orientations, for example if the housing was installed in a horizontal position, the discs would not be readily accessible.